Stuck on Cloud 9

Belga needs to be
on target for Wednesday

The Rain or Shine Elastopainters' dream of making the PBA Governor's Cup Finals outright is now over, with Wednesday's game versus the rising BMeg Llamados to dictate which team advances to the big stage. The loser of that match will have to play again versus the winner of the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings- Talk 'n' Text Tropang Texters playoffs in order to proceed to the next and final round.

So, with the Elastopainters needing to secure "only" two to three wins in the semifinals, what went wrong-- given their lofty standings at the end of eliminations and how easily they breezed through the competition game in and game out? It's pretty simple: everyone else improved, superstar rookie point guard Paul Lee hurt his shoulder and the Elastopainters peaked a little too early in this shortened conference.

For a minute there, the Elastopainters appeared to have figured it out. They were the most intact team the last three to four conferences, tinkering with their roster from time to time but nothing drastic. The veterans played together and knew their roles on the floor, franchise player Gabe Norwood has all but surrendered his "alpha dog" status to rookie Lee who is a more established offensive player on all fronts. Jeffrei Chan is the team's (and the PBA's) best shooter who only needs to get to his preferred wing spots. Ronjay Buenafe is the designated scorer off the bench, and everyone else are role players who are quite good at what they do (Beau Belga as a big time enforcer, JayR Quinahan, Ryan Arana and Jireh Ybanes as legit, Class A- defenders and so on).

Despite all the chemistry and herculean efforts from Jamelle Cornley, the Elastopainters just can't seem to get over the hump. Not now when stacked teams (Llamados, Gin Kings and Texters) are starting to get into their usual playoff-groove and established PBA megastars are playing to their strengths (Mark Caguioa's making a huge run at the season ending Most Valuable Player plum again while closest rival Gary David watches the game at home).

Did they celebrate their eliminations feat too early? That's doubtful. Specially for a Yeng Guiao-coached team to suddenly fall under a lackadaisical spell when they're only a few games away from getting to the promised land. You can see that the team's trying, it's just that they're being outmatched by talented players one-on-one.

This conference is still salvageable, they only need to win on Wednesday-- if not, then the playoff on Friday, to advance. It's easier said than done and they'll have to work extra hard on defense to slow opponents down. The thing that's going to shift any playoff game with the Elastopainters is if they can establish their physicality early as opposed to being run right out of the gym (like in today's game versus the Texters which resulted in a 98-90 loss).

If Lee is truly hurt, then perhaps Coach Yeng could consider playing Norwood at his preferred 1 spot or even give more minutes to backup (yet highly servicable) guard TY Tang. Quinahan also needs more minutes on the floor as does guys like Ronnie Matias and other names on the Elastopainters' bench.